I'm retiring this summer so I am planning some trips. I have put in on the Lottery for a few dates in early September for Desolation-Gray Canyons, which is a wild and scenic river. just 84 miles, so if I'm drawn I plan to paddle just a few miles a day and then camp/explore/fish for the afternoons.
Has anyone run this/ know more about this than the website?
I must have been considering a trip there (above Desolation Canyon) at some point, I have an (unsullied) Belknap’s Desolation River Guide.
https://www.amazon.com/Belknaps-Waterproof-Desolation-River-Guide-All/dp/0916370194
Pretty sure I didn’t pay $30 for that book, it’s only 40 map pages long. I like Belknap’s for the historical sidebars, but have several nuisance issues with their map book design and layout.
Viewed right side up, so the historical sidebar stuff is readable, the river orientation is backwards. I much prefer the map oriented in the direction I am heading, ie floating downriver. Easily resolved, I can just flip the map upside down and skip reading the historical notes.
More annoying, because Belknap’s are long and skinny (17” long x 5 ½” wide when open), they are hard to keep readably flat. And unflappable in up-canyon winds.
PC171440 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
The solution was cheap and easy, a piece of 17 x 5 ½ Coroplast cut from an old campaign yard sign, with a couple rubber bands to hold the map in place flat and unflappy.
PC171444 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
PC171443 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
Easy enough to flip to the next pages tucked under the rubber bands. I added a grommet, line and clip for security.
On western rivers I usually take (at least) two sets of maps or map books; Belknaps for easy viewing, printed/laminated topo maps for side details and, when available, a River Guidebook with maps and side hike, water source, ruins, artifacts and more prose history.
I’m a map head, and a reader. That printed stuff can keep me occupied in camp for hours. Other than the Belknaps I have not seen a guidebook for Desolation/Grey. The Kelsey book River Guide to Canyonlands and Vicinity
starts at the town of Green River.